A list of film revivals and the occasional new one, to catch in NYC, mainly Manhattan and Queens. Sometimes reviews of what i see, unless I'm not in the mood. Not every revival, just what I want to see and might be able to catch.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Oscar picks

Ok people. Mike here. I did this last year, and I'll do this again. Let's hear your Oscar nominations picks. As a guide, I'm using hsx (hollywood stock exchange) to break down the major nominations. For each category, they are broken down into probables, possibles, maybes, and longshots, followed by my picks. I generally do better with picking the nominees until last year. We'll see. Here we go:

BEST PICTURE:

Probables: There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men, Atonement, Juno, American Gangster

Possibles: Michael Clayton, Into The Wild, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly

My picks: The Diving Bell And The Butterfly (a surprise but the Producer's Guild members will probably get it in), Juno (Consider this the Little Miss Sunshine slot), Michael Clayton (West coast people kept the film from being a flop, they'll get it in here), No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood

BEST DIRECTOR: Probables: The Coen brothers- No Country . . . , Paul Thomas Anderson- There Will Be Blood

My picks: Bardem, Dano, Hoffman, Holbrook, Wilkinson. I know Affleck has been praised, but I have to wonder if any Academy member sat through all 8 hrs or the Jesse James film. I know I haven't tried to at this point, and if I can't (for some of you, I'm the only one you know who likes Westerns), why would some Academy members with 65 DVDs to go through. My guess is that any member who wasn't jumping for the other 4, and saw Dano stand up acting-wise to Daniel Day, would have to nominate him.

My picks: Blanchett, Keener, MacDonald, Ryan, Swinton. Honestly, after Cate and Amy, I have no clue. So I'm going to some old favorites, like Tilda and Kelly. But don't be surprised if somehow, the 12 year old from Atonement or Ruby Dee gets up there.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

Probables: Juno, Michael Clayton

Probables: American Gangster, Ratatouille, Before The Devil . . .

Possibles: Waitress, The Savages, The Great Debaters, I'm Not There, Once, Knocked Up, In The Valley Of Elah Longshot: Eastern Promises, The Darjeeling Limited

My picks: Before The Devil, Juno, Clayton, The Savages, Ratatouille. I know Knocked Up is WGA nominated, but considering a lot of the best jokes were ad libbed, will we have another Beverly Hills Cop in our hands? And I know Lars is also WGA nominated, but how actually went to see this?

BEST SCREENPLAY ADAPTATION:

Probables: No Country . . ., There Will Be Blood, Atonement, Into The Wild, The Diving Bell . . .